This girl is ONE!!!
12 month stats: 23 lbs 8 oz (90%) 31″ tall (96%) and her head is 18 1/4 cm (85%)
Pictures courtesy of our dear, sweet friend Ashley J. Swenson. This photo shoot was NOT what I had pictured in my mind. It was all our bad. We should have known that taking pictures past 7 pm, walking up a big hill, in the cold evening, would be a bad idea. But, we were not thinking. There is this hill that we love just up the street. It is very steep, but not a terribly long walk. It has the most amazing view up there with such a beautiful hill in the background. I figured it would be the perfect spot and that the best time would be sunset. We got all ready and loaded up the stroller with blankets, extra accessories, make up, brush, mirror, drinks, snacks, and props for Madeline… It was crazy. We headed up the hill and by the time we reached the top, we were both sweaty messes and out of breath. And it was really windy. Which felt nice for us sweaty parents, but poor little Madeline was freezing. Her nose was red and runny the whole time and she was tired. It was just not great. So we did our best! And Ashley was amazing! She was so great with her ideas and capturing some great moments. In between shots, we had Madeline wrapped in her sweater and then we would take it off and try to get her to smile for us. She was such a good sport. I was hoping to get some cute family pictures, but by the time we were headed that way, Madeline was beyond expired. But it was a funny experience and Ashley got some great shots of our sweet baby girl.
Madeline Mae has two teeth on the bottom. She took her first steps all on her own the day before her first birthday. We were so excited! She loves walking around our coffee table. She will make laps and laps. She is getting more confident with standing on her own and not holding on to things, as well as walking on her own. She signs “more” and “all done”. Usually “more” sign means a lot of different things, it can mean more food, I want that, I want to nurse, or I want to eat whatever food you are eating. She loves to eat anything that us adults are eating. She is like a little puppy begging for table scraps.
Madeline has zero patience. I wish that she could understand, okay, let me go get it for you, or hang on for just one minute. But no, she just fusses and throws a little tantrum until she gets what she wants. This worries me! She is afraid of dogs, especially if they bark. Whenever she sees one, she will grab onto my shirt for dear life, but won’t mind them too much. But as soon as they bark, it’s all over. She is screaming and crying. She has become more snuggly. We LOVE it. She will randomly come up to me or Nathan and just lay her head down on us. Or when I pick her up out of her crib when she first wakes up I say, “snuggles” and she nuzzles right in. Makes me so happy. She has started to snuggle this couch pillow and it is hysterical. She started to do it one day and it was so funny. So now every time that pillow is on the floor, she rushes over to snuggle it. She has an elephant stuffed animal from her Grandma Donna, that her Grandma Jean has nicknamed, “Gray”. She loves this stuffed animal in particular and loves to snuggle “Graaaaay” too.
She has learned how to pull the caps off markers and chap stick. As well as child proof medicine. And when she can’t pull the cap off something she gets really frustrated! She catches on to things really quickly and it always surprises us the things she knows. She has seen us lift the lever to open the gate countless times and one day she just went over and lifted it up! I never thought she would pay attention to something like that. She stands on her tip toes to get things out of her reach. And she loves reaching up to the table and our dresser and feeling for whatever is up there and pull it down. Madeline loves Raffi. That music always makes her move and happy. Especially Banana Phone. That’s her favorite! She loves cheese. She could probably just live off my milk and cheese and be a happy girl! Any type of cheese or cheese cracker she will gobble right up. I worry how long this girl is going to nurse. She loves nursing before she falls asleep for naps and bedtime and through the night and gets quite jealous when I’m pumping. Her sleep has gone in waves. She is finally down to 2 naps! Hallelujah. She will usually wake up for the day around 6:30-7 and then nap at 10 and nap at 3. But it varies. Her sleep at night is sometimes great and sometimes bad. Still not a night where she hasn’t woken up. We’ll get there eventually. Maybe. Madeline loves to be a jokester. She always tries to be funny and make us laugh. She loves to play peekaboo around the chair in her room. She has a very strong, defiant personality. She is very loving, sweet, miss independent, and has loads of energy!! We love our busy, beautiful, happy girl!
I love my little family <3
One reply on “TWELVE months”
In other countries, they breastfeed until 2 years old. And in Sonoma County. I belonged to a mommy group for Sonoma County and I was surprised at how all the moms seemed to breastfeed for about 2 years. Also, they don’t remember. Caroline said, “ew” when she saw me feeding Emily and I told her about how she used to eat like that from her mom and she didn’t remember.